This is why so many people cared about where LeBron James would take his talents.

On Thursday night, he almost single-handedly defeated the Orlando Magic.

James scored the most points by an NBA player this season and helped foil an improbable late Magic rally to lead the Miami Heat to a 104-100 win that was far more lopsided than the final score indicates.

"Just playing this team got me going," said James, who scored 51 points, collected 11 rebounds and dished out eight assists.

"We understand that this wasn't just any regular game. There was a lot things said about us in the offseason that came from this organization. So, we just wanted to come in here and play to our abilities and make a statement."

Orlando never led and trailed by as many as 23 points midway through the fourth quarter, prompting many in the announced crowd of 18,945 to leave Amway Center before the game became interesting again.

Fueled by their 3-point shooting, the Magic cut the deficit to 103-100 with 10.6 seconds left in regulation and had a chance to tie the game.

But Ryan Anderson's potential game-tying 3-pointer with 6.9 seconds remaining from the top of the arc hit off the back of the rim.

"It was straight on," Anderson said. "Those shots are painful to miss. I got a good look."

Magic center Dwight Howard played all 48 minutes -- the first time he's ever done that in a non-overtime game -- and finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds.

Yet Howard also missed 10 of his 13 free-throw attempts and looked more unsure at the foul line than he has all season.

His teammates missed five of their 18 tries.

James, meanwhile, couldn't miss anything.

He owned the first quarter, scorching the Magic on an array of dazzling jumpers, a layup and free throws.

From 14, 17, 18, 22, 18, 10, 1, 17 and 23 feet -- James drained every shot he attempted even though he usually had a Magic player in front of him contesting shots.

"He made a lot of jump shots tonight," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I know what his numbers are as a jump shooter. I know he has nights like this. Nope, I wouldn't do a whole lot differently. I mean, we made a couple of mistakes, but very few. He hit jump shots over the top.

"We study the stuff and you play some percentages and you don't want him at the rim all night. He had a phenomenal, phenomenal night, but we're not going to run around and double-team him at 35 feet."

James made each of his first 11 shot attempts and wound up making 17 of his 25 tries from the field.

"If he makes jump shots, that's fine," Howard said. "We'd rather him shoot jump shots the whole game. If he makes 'em, good for him."

Apparently, James really did note some verbal snipes at him this past summer.

In July, after James announced he was joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach, Magic President of Basketball Operations Otis Smith said, "I thought he was, I guess, more of a competitor."

Thursday's game couldn't have started more inauspiciously for Orlando (31-19).

Howard picked up his first personal foul 17 seconds after the opening tip.

Anderson, starting at power forward for injured Brandon Bass, committed a pair of fouls in the game's first two minutes. That early foul trouble relegated Anderson to just 5 minutes, 59 seconds of playing time in the opening half.

The game featured one tense moment.

With 9:43 remaining in the third quarter, Wade drove to the hoop, went airborne and collided with Howard.

Wade landed flat on his back with a loud thud.

After a full Heat timeout, he made both free throws to put Miami ahead 60-45.

Wade then left the game and didn't return again until the start of the fourth quarter.

James and the Heat (35-14) didn't need him for a while.

They didn't need Bosh much either.

Wade and Bosh combined for 27 points on 8-of-24 shooting.

Meanwhile, little seemed to work for the Magic until the midway point of the fourth quarter.

"I'm not happy with the way we played the rest of it, but I think the comeback was good and legit and our guys hung in the game and showed a lot of resolve," Van Gundy said. "And, again, yeah, I know they were up 23. The bottom line is it's a 48-minute game, and with seven or eight seconds to go, we've got a 3 to tie for a good 3-point shooter."

Read Josh Robbins' blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.